www.westernleader.co.nz
11
WESTERN LEADER, JANUARY 20, 2012
SPORT
Aleh and Powrie in Olympic squad
By KERRY GALLAGHER
London-bound: Jo Aleh, left, with her coach Nathan Handley and
crewmate Olivia Powrie.
With a strong build-up and
solid results behind her, Jo
Aleh was among the first
members named in an
expected 200-strong New
Zealand squad for the
Olympics in London later this
year.
The Muriwai resident and
her 470 class sailing partner
Olivia Polly'' Powrie were
confirmed by New Zealand
Olympic Committee selectors
shortly before Christmas.
Other sailors included are
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
(49er), Andrew Murdoch
(laser), Jon Paul Tobin
(RS:X), Paul Snow Hansen
and Jason Saunders (men's
470), Stephanie Hazard,
Jenna Hansen and Susannah
Pyatt (women's match racing)
and Sara Winther (laser
radial).
The athletes' nomination
and selection followed robust
performances at the Sailing
World Championships in
Perth.
Aleh and Powrie, known as
Team Jolly -- a combination of
Jo and Polly, took bronze at
the World Championships as
the New Zealand crews
recorded a silver and two
bronze overall.
The athletes were selected
following nomination to the
New Zealand Olympic Com-
mittee by Yachting New Zea-
land.
Yachting New Zealand
Olympic director Jez Fan-
stone says the athletes make
up a young team with strong
podium potential.
The Olympic sailing course
is at Weymouth in the south
of England where conditions
are expected to favour the
New Zealand sailors.
They're well-balanced con-
ditions not unlike the East
Coast Bays of Auckland,''
Fanstone says.
Aleh and Powrie have
already had success on the
course, winning the Sail for
Gold regatta and finishing
fourth in a pre-Olympic test
event last year.
New Zealand has been rep-
resented in Olympic sailing
since Melbourne in 1956
where Jack Cropp and Peter
Mander won gold in the
Sharpie class. A total of 16
Olympic medals -- seven gold,
four silver, five bronze -- have
been won by Kiwi yachtsmen
and women.
The New Zealand team is
expected to include athletes
from 17 sports.
Rally a
success
for Birch
Six months of prep-
aration paid off for
Waimauku
enduro
motorbike rider Chris
Birch when he crossed
the finish line in the
2012 Dakar Rally.
Birch made it to Lima,
Peru, on Sunday and
achieved his goal of
completing the famous
race.
But the feat nearly
didn't occur when he
misjudged a jump on
Saturday.
The
31-year-old
crashed and suffered
minor injuries while
competing on the 13th
stage of the rally.
There was a big drop-
off that wasn't really
marked on the route
book and it took me a bit
by surprise,'' he wrote on
his website.
I jumped about three
metres down and just
landed wrong, face
planting into the safety
equipment on the bike. I
thought I had broken my
nose and I sort of
knocked myself out for a
second as well. Not only
that, I sprained my
ankle pretty bad.''
Despite showing the
scars of his tumble on
his face, Birch battled on
to finish the final stage
in 40th place, good
enough for 27th overall.
He was only one of 98
riders in the motorbike
category to complete the
rally. More than 178
riders started the race
on January 1.
Tips from the top for touring Kiwi baseball reps
Major talk: Major League baseball players Chris Woodward, left,
and Nick Hundley give advice to the New Zealand under-18 baseball
squad in Avondale.
Photo: TUREI MACKEY
With just days to go before
the New Zealand under-18
baseball team travel to Guam
to compete in under-18
Oceania championships, the
side got a few tips from the
pros.
The team will compete at
the tournament on January
27 against sides from Aust-
ralia, Palau, Northern
Marina Islands, Guam and
American Samoa.
Major League baseball
infielder Chris Woodward of
the Toronto Blue Jays and
catcher Nick Hundley of the
San Diego Padres stopped by
a training session at the
Fieldhouse in Avondale to
watch and give advice on bat-
ting techniques to the 20
players.
The pair, along with Boston
Red Sox pitcher Mark Melan-
con, have been in Auckland
promoting the sport.
Baseball New Zealand
executive officer Ryan Flynn
is happy with the continu-
ation of professional players
coming to the country to
promote the game.
We have caught the eye of
Major League Baseball and
the wider baseball com-
munity,'' he says.
Our playing numbers have
jumped from 1000 to 6000
registered players and the
talent and desire is here in
New Zealand for it to grow.''
Under-18 head coach Matt
Mills says the players
enjoyed a chance to learn
from real Major League tal-
ent.
They loved it and it was a
thrill to have guys like Chris
and Nick at our disposal,'' he
says.
It was good because both
reinforced what we have
already been preaching to the
players. It was building on
fundamental stuff we have
gone over before.''
Mills says the aim will be
to win all six matches at the
Oceania tournament.
When we step on to the
field the goal is to win.
We have got 12 guys who
have played for a national
side before -- the others have
come over from softball,'' he
says.
Te Atatu based club West
City Wild Cats and its
affiliated team West City-
Metro has several players in
the under-18 squad with Pita
Rona, Tim Olliff, Casey
Nukunuku, Lewis Jerard,
Mitch James, Vinny Harris,
Mak Fox, Sam Clerk and
Richard Clarke included.
Avondale College student
Quinten Niu, who plays for
North Shore City, also made
the side.
Surfers head in to finals at champs
Standout: Piha's Liam Joyce was a standout at the National Surfing Championships but failed to make the quarter-finals.
Photo: CRAIG LEVERS/PHOTOCPL
The nation's best surfers hit the
water in the open men's division at
the national surfing champs this
week, bringing flare to the best con-
ditions Piha has seen in the new
year.
The Gisborne surfers proved the
best of the bunch with Bobby Han-
sen scoring 18.10 out of 20 in his
third heat and Jay Quinn scoring a
12.43 in his quest for a third
national title. Hansen made an
impressive comeback after sitting
out much of 2011 due to injuries.
I was super nervous in my first
two heats, I guess from not surfing
competitively for a while, but I am
feeling better now for sure,'' he says.
Piha surfers Liam Joyce, Bevan
Wiig, Tane Wallis, Ryan Hawker
and Elliot Paerata-Reid all per-
formed well but failed to qualify for
the knock-out stages.
Paerata-Reid did well in the
under-16 boys division scoring 15.33
during the heats.
I have a huge advantage being at
home and today my dad scoped out
the line-up while I was warming up
and stretching,'' he says.
I know where to sit but he points
places out as well and that helps to
confirm everything for me.''
The finals are tomorrow at Piha
between 8.30am and 2pm.
Go to www.westernleader.co.nz
to see highlights of the under-16
boys division.